Former Brave struggles again in Atlanta

Now that Glavine is a member of the New York Mets, Jones has put
that knowledge to good use.

He homered and drove in four runs off his former teammate, and
the Braves completed a three-game sweep of the New York Mets with a
6-5 victory Sunday.

Eli Marrero and Chipper Jones each had three hits for the
Braves, who won their fifth straight, and seventh in eight games,
to move a season-high 12 games over .500 (58-46).

Glavine (8-9) continued his recent slide, losing for the sixth
time in eight starts, and fell to 1-5 against Atlanta, where he
played the first 16 seasons of his career. Andruw Jones improved to
7-for-15 (.467) against Glavine with three home runs.

"We just came right at him," Andruw Jones said. "I've seen
him pitch so many times, it's like I'm really, really relaxed at
the plate. I know what kind of pitcher he is."

In five innings, Glavine gave up six runs on nine hits.

"It's not strange, it's always going to be different," Glavine
said of his return to Atlanta. "I was extremely relaxed, I felt
good, and I had a good stuff. Things just didn't happen."

Paul Byrd (3-3) retired 15 of the first 16 batters he faced
through five hitless innings before faltering in the sixth with a
6-0 lead. He lost his bid for a no-hitter when David Wright led off
with a solo homer to left, then left after Cliff Floyd's three-run
shot later in the inning.

The Mets got within 6-5 on Mike Cameron's home run off Antonio
Alfonseca to start the seventh, but newly acquired Tom Martin came
on to retire pinch-hitter Gerald Williams and Jose Reyes on easy
flyballs to end the threat.

"It's a good feeling, I can tell you that," Martin said. "You
just want to get the ball to your closer, and when you have a
closer like ours, it makes it especially important."

Martin was traded to the Braves a day earlier by Los Angeles,
and arrived in town about 5:30 a.m. Sunday.

"He fought hard to get here, and he probably won the
ballgame," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said.

John Smoltz allowed a one-out single in the ninth to Cameron,
who then stole second, but struck out Vance Wilson and Wright for
his 25th save in 27 chances.

Glavine got two quick outs in the first before walking J.D.
Drew, and Chipper Jones followed with a ground-rule double over
Richard Hidalgo in right. An infield single by Julio Franco scored
Drew, and Andruw Jones lined a hit off the glove of shortstop Kaz
Matsui to bring home Chipper Jones.

Marrero grounded a single through the right side to score Franco
for a 3-0 lead.

"What are you going to do?" Glavine said. "Sure, it's
frustrating when you make a pitch and you expect a certain result
and don't get it -- particularly against a team like this. You make
mistakes, they're going to make you pay for it and they did."

Andruw Jones' homer in the fifth made it 6-0, an opposite-field
shot to right that Hidalgo narrowly missed.

All the while, Byrd was cruising. The only baserunner he allowed
through five innings was Glavine, who walked. But things fell apart
quickly for Byrd in the sixth, with the two homers cutting
Atlanta's lead to 6-4.

"It was weird," Byrd said. "I thought they couldn't see the
ball and they couldn't pick it up, and then all the sudden, it was
like I was putting it on a tee for them."

He gave up four hits in 5 2-3 innings, walked one and struck out
five.

"We showed some spunk and got back in it," New York manager
Art Howe said. "That was more like the Mets I know. If we hadn't
come back and played the way we did, I'd be concerned."
^Notes:@ Andruw Jones' homer was his first since July 20. ... Piazza
made his first start at first base during the series and finished
0-for-4. He mistakenly fielded a grounder headed toward 2B Reyes in
the fifth, which turned into a hit for Drew. ... Byrd threw 91
pitches, including 62 for strikes.